


Metanoia

by rhythmyeon



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Developing Friendships, Gen, M/M, My First Fanfic, One-Sided Attraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 12:40:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25969831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhythmyeon/pseuds/rhythmyeon
Summary: A tale of magic and loreOf tragedy and hopeOf curses and boonsOf a love lost and friendships gainedAnd perhaps, something more?
Relationships: Kim Jongdae | Chen/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay
Kudos: 4





	Metanoia

**Author's Note:**

> I uh.. concocted this story a year ago and I have no idea what exactly happened while it wrote itself and went haywire like the way it is now. It took me a whole year to get enough courage to release it into the wilderness of the internet so here I am doing it now before my conscience backs out.
> 
> Since I don't know how to tag yet..  
> Warnings include: preslash(?), angst, unintelligible facts about magic and faes (yeah I basically just created them on a whim and without doing much research about types of fairies and mythical creatures), failed attempt at creativity, grammatical errors and typos, plot holes, inconsistencies, irregular timelapses, somewhat explicit description of injuries (maybe?), dramatic emotional descriptions, billions of exo song references which no one will ever figure out, rushed endings and that's pretty much it :)

METANOIA

••••••••••••••  
  


_~initium_

❀

Jongdae had never thought that he would find love for himself. But he found it. Not in the most unlikeliest of places and neither in the most unexpected forms. He found it just like any normal fae like him would. Well.. you couldn't really call him a normal fae since he was far from being one.

Jongdae was a harvest fae.

A harvest fae. Someone who could reap out throes of plant life from the barren, draughty earth. A wanderer. Someone who was a considered a beacon of hope by everyone who chanced upon him during his journeys.

As a harvest fae Jongdae was never nailed down to a specific place. He relentlessly moved about the entire Fae Raelm, collecting memories from places he would visit, learning about legends from mystical lands. But he was anchored to the _Land of Cora_. As his birthplace, he had a connection to it, he considered Cora to be _home_.

He never would have thought in his wildest dreams that he would consider another land, the _Land of Namanana_ as his home too.

It all began when he came upon a tiny imp on one of his excursions.

The little elfish creature was all but dying. Jongdae had given him shelter & food until it was possible. The imp had told him he hailed from the _Land of Namanana_. Jongdae had heard the legends about Namanana. It was a forbidden place even for faes. Only the ones born there could stay there for eternity. The ones who migrated over had short a lifespan compared to the older ones.

But harvest faes could visit the land & be like any other inhabitant there, because harvest faes were able to adapt to such things, since their original nature is of a wanderer.

Before his inevitable death, the short imp had pleaded to Jongdae, to save them. To save Namanana, the _dying_ Namanana.

And that's what had brought Jongdae to Namanana, because he had made an unspoken promise to the little elf.

As Jongdae stood on the supposed entrance of Namanana, he was appraising the picture presented to him. The legends had said Namanana was supposed to be a huge forest, but now, here it looked nothing short of a barren, dry desert. The plants were dying, the puny animals almost on the verge of death and there was no single drop moisture.

Jongdae was pitying the state of this land when suddenly a fae popped up in front of him.

"A new fae?" "Well, he doesn't smell like one of ours." Another one had popped up too & Jongdae felt like his heart would burst out in shock at any moment. Just then a third one popped up again and Jongdae almost died. "Oh my Aton! It's a harvest fae you guys."

The three faes were _tall_. Why were they tall? Faes weren't supposed to be tall. Jongdae hadn't ever seen faes as tall as these three. The first fae which had appeared had a soft features with blazing topaz eyes and hair the colour of sun when it was at the highest point in sky. He was looking at Jongdae while pouting.

The second fae looked positively miffed about what Jongdae didn't know but his jawline looked sharper than the knives Jongdae had carried with him when he was travelling near the borders of the Witch World. His eyes were a warm caramel & his hair resembled the colour of the sunrise, a bright tangerine. The third & the tallest fae was grinning so brightly at Jongdae, he felt blinded for a brief moment. This one had murky, mustard coloured eyes with hair shining like the receding sunlight during the sunset, like the pink of a cantaloupe.

The tallest fae said, "Hello newbie. I'm Chanyeol. And these two are Sehun and Jongin." He pointed to the orange haired one first & then to the blonde one. "We are the solar faes. You're a harvest fae right? What's your name?" Jongdae had enough time to nod back and reply with "J-Jongdae..", when they were pulling him inside. "Great! It's been a while since someone like you visited us. C'mon. Let's get you settled in the Twilight Courtyard. You can rest there before doing your work." Jongdae really wanted to protest but he was also a bit hungry & tired so he went along with them to the Courtyard.

After letting him live in one of the cabins, the three solar faes led Jongdae to a table full of wild berries. They engaged him in small talk and all the while Jongdae was observing his surroundings. The solar faes' courtyard was supposed to be thriving with all things wild, fruits, flowers, evergreens. But here it was nothing of the sort. Even while walking, Jongdae had noticed that everything was either dead or almost dying. Jongdae wondered what happened to the once forbidden land.

"You're wondering why Namanana is like this huh?" It was Jongin who asked him. Sehun sighed beside him. "I'm sure you have heard about how Namanana is a forest but now that you see, there's nothing foresty about this place."

"What happened here? Did some witch curse you or...?" Jongdae had to ask.

Chanyeol was the one to answer him. "You could say it's a curse in a way. Our previous harvest fae, Kyungsoo, the one who helped us all, helped Namanana to become land full of things which were scarce to other lands of the Fae Raelm.. He left us. He left us all to go & live in some other place. It's been _years_ now, I don't think he's ever coming back."

"Not that he ever said he would come back." Sehun's tone was bitter now, Jongdae could sense the pain there. "It's fine Sehunnie. We didn't have expectations from him anyways. Only Yixing did." Jongin mumbled.

Jongdae felt awkward. It was something between them & it felt like he was overstepping his boundaries.

"I think we only have until the next spring arrives to try & get everything back together, otherwise we would all die out without a trace." Jongdae's eyes widened & in the next second, Chanyeol held his hands & asked in a sort of begging tone, "But now that you're here you would help us right, Jongdae?" Chanyeol's eyes shining with so much adoration.

Jongdae laughed nervously. "Of-of course I would try to help you guys... but... I don't really know what to do?" He finished, confused.

Sehun was the one to reply him next, while eating a holly. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm sure the nymphs would tell you everything. They know about most of the things."

"Oh yes!" Jongin exclaimed while offering Jongdae some yew berries, "The nymphs know everything. I'm sure Junmyeon will tell you about everything you need to know." He beamed.

Jongdae was unsettled. These faes, their smiles looked so bogus on them. Not that Jongdae doubted their hospitality, no. They were really genuine with their treatment. It was just their expression of happiness that looked phony to Jongdae.

Maybe it was because of the way their circumstances were deteriorating, they had no benefit in maintaining their true feelings. Maybe... maybe they were tired of it all?

Jongdae had to help them somehow. Had to give them some kind of hope. To live, to _breathe_.

He decided he would go to these nymphs. He would ask them about this situation.

But that would be for the next day. Right now, he would enjoy the company of the solar faes. And with a smile Jongdae mingled up with the Courtyard spirits.

❀

As instructed by the solar faes, Jongdae stumbled through the only patch of verdure in the entirety of Namanana. The Aban Orb doesn't really resemble its given name but the show of greenery was breathtaking. The diversity exhibited among the plant life made it seem as though Jongdae was gazing at a heavenly collection flora. The flowerage & herbs growing in the Orb really made Jongdae realise that Namanana actually lived up to its name, _the rainforest where dreams never fall_. But there was no rain falling down there at the moment.

Pushing aside thickets of bushes here & there Jongdae came face to face to a settlement which closely resembled a tree house. But the tree house was lined with vines of all sorts, wildflowers blooming along one side acting as though a decorative piece. There were tiny rodents scurrying about on the floor of the tree house. A small blue butterfly fluttered in Jongdae's line of sight and he had to wonder if the butterfly's wings were actually made of snowflakes or was it just his imagination.

Jongdae had no time to think about why a butterfly was flying around in a forest because a figure stepped out of the house then & he turned around to face them. The person, a man, a _nymph_ , looked at him with surprise. From where Jongdae was standing, he could see the nymph's skin sparkling, as if someone had sprinkled dew drops on it carelessly. His midnight blue hair framing the glossy forehead & as Jongdae looked on, he saw realisation dawn upon in the indigo irises of the nymph.

All of a sudden the nymph strode towards him & Jongdae had approximately 6 seconds to react before the nymph stood in front of him, his crystal eyes which were shrouded by dark, lush eyelashes held a sense of excitement & eagerness.

"Are you the new harvest fae everyone is talking about?" the nymph asked & Jongdae promptly answered by nodding his head in a fit of nervousness. The nymph beamed, "Its been so long since Namanana has been visited by a harvest fae. You're going to stay here and help the land flourish right? Minseok & I can only channel our powers enough to let certain vegetation to grow. It's nearly impossible for us to try & rejuvenate the entire land & Yixing is always cooped up in the Cereus Caves and- oh wait! I didn't introduce myself. I'm Junmyeon, a water nymph. Me & my twin, Minseok, we've been living here since the very beginning. We are mostly responsible for the rains here but now that the land is dry we can't really do much." Junmyeon frowned while ending his long blabber.

"Junmyeon how many times have I asked you to not spill out everything to strangers? What if some day a witch disguised as a fae or spirit comes at our door & you unconsciously give her all the information she needs in order to make us into the ingredients for her next potion? What are we gonna do then?" The other nymph, Junmyeon's twin brother Minseok, stepped out of the house & Jongdae was able to fathom how similar they look. Hair the same colour as of the darkest night. They both had the same nose & cheekbones. But Minseok's skin looked crystallized instead of viscid, as though it's studded with icicles and his cobalt eyes were a lot sharper. They turned even more sharp as Minseok turned to glare at him.

Jongdae heard Junmyeon mumble something along the lines of _Silly Minseok.. witches can't disguise as faes because they're ugly_ but he ignored that in favour of introducing himself. "I'm Jongdae. A harvest fae. I come from the land of Cora. I just wanted to ask you about the previous harvest fae of Namanana." and Jongdae immediately saw the changes in their expressions. Minseok's glare became even more steely & Junmyeon's eyes were downcast. Jongdae knew he had to tread carefully here.

"Chanyeol and the others told me that the fae, Kyungsoo, he left from here to settle down in some other faraway place. Do you happen to know why he took all the powers he invested here? I mean as a harvest fae I know that we are entitled to ask for our powers back but we aren't selfish to do so. That's why I wanted to know what Kyungsoo's reasons were."

"We don't know why he left & why he took his powers. And neither do we _want_ to know. Go back to the main area and don't come to us & ask unnecessary questions again." Minseok snapped & went away towards the further side of the tree house.

Jongdae turned back to Junmyeon to see him sigh woefully. "I'm sorry but Kyungsoo was a friend to all of us & the way he left affected us all in some or the other way." He smiled tentatively, "I'll tell you about it all but first let's get you inside."

As they settled down in the humid but comfy chamber of the tree house, Junmyeon began telling the tale.

"Kyungsoo came to Namanana somewhere around 9 years ago. Before that Namanana was considered a forbidden land, people other than native spirits like us were afraid to step foot in here. But after Kyungsoo's arrival, it came to be known as the rainforest where dreams don't fall. Kyungsoo all but nurtured it with his heart, mind & soul. Of course with Yixing's help too. Or at least that's what we thought." Here Junmyeon's tone got a bit sombre.

"The part of the story which most of the faes here don't know is that Yixing was admired Kyungsoo a lot. To the point that it was overwhelming." Jongdae's eyes widened a bit. "But I for a fact knew that it wasn’t just Kyungsoo's powers that were doing things to Namanana, changing it so drastically. It was also something else. Something mystifying. Some connection that both Yixing and Kyungsoo shared. 

"Namanana thrives off of absolute emotions, feelings. So obviously when it found out its healer fae & harvest fae had an unsullied connection with each other, it grew in its magical powers and let the spirits residing here grow too.

"But then suddenly Kyungsoo decided to go off to another land. Said things like 'I have done my job here' and 'I need to go help others too'. Yixing broke down completely.. I cannot imagine the amount of heartbreak he feels now, but I haven't seen him smile at all since that day. Baekhyun, our lunar fae, he tries each & every day to make Yixing happy by offering him moonflowers & other moonshine trinkets, but to no avail. And this is why Namanana has become what it is now. The faes are practically dying. We asked the new settlers, who came in to live here after Kyungsoo, to leave this death ridden place but they say they love Namanana so much they can't leave anymore. Its because of their loyalty that Namanana has survived for so long. But time is running out on us." Junmyeon finished while wiping stray tears from his eyes. When had he started crying, even Jongdae didn't know.

Jongdae felt it all. The despair in the air and the way the spirits here had a faux sense of humour in the way they interacted with each other. Even the nymphs did the same, but maybe Minseok displayed his bitterness all too well. They knew they won't be surviving if the land doesn't go back to what it was. 

And hence, Jongdae decided that he would help them. Help them to live again, to be happy again. He had seen how Chanyeol and Sehun and Jongin had hidden their frowns, because they could no longer let the summer florence bloom. He could see the sadness misting around Junmyeon & Minseok because they couldn't make it rain anymore. And he wanted them to use their abilities again. He wanted to see the other spirits of Namanana be happy.

"I'll use my powers to help you all. Will you let me do that?" Jongdae felt fulfilled seeing that large grin on Junmyeon's face.

But Junmyeon sobered up instantly and said, "Of course it's great that you're helping us, but I'll let you know that only an innervation of true love will be able to bring Namanana back to its original glory. So I don't want you to get dismayed if it doesn't work."

Jongdae's face simpered with a small smile. "Don't worry about me. I'm sure it'll work out."

❀

The sky overhead looked inculpable, unlike Yixing's emotions, dotted by specks of cottony clouds here & there on the huge azure canvas and with the sun's refulgent rays illuminating the day. Yixing wondered if Jongin & other solar faes felt as inept as he did, not being able to use the total potential God Helios was giving them.

He felt responsible for all this. As he had felt so since _that_ day, the day when the supposed love of his life left him, taking away not just Yixing's heart but Namanana's as well. It didn't feel right, seeing the place that gave life to him, that allowed him to breathe dying down like this. Sometimes Yixing questioned himself if it was worth it. Worth leaving this place for good. But then the answer came to him itself. No. He wouldn't, _couldn't_ leave the place he treasured so much. His love for Namanana was as ardent & hallowed as his love for Kyungsoo. Undying.

As Yixing was going through the turmoil of his thoughts, a head of fair, silky threads peeked down from above him.

"Yixing! How are you today? Look! I brought moondrops for you today." Baekhyun said while thrusting said flowers in Yixing's hands. "Goddess Luna almost caught me when I was going through her gardens. But I was able to get this bunch somehow. I've heard that their nectar is able to help with insomnia. I want you to have it & sleep peacefully at least for once Yixing." Baekhyun finished, sitting down next to where Yixing was set.

"Thank you Baekhyunnie, they look fresh & lovely. I'll extract the nectar tonight & mix it with the glacial water I get from Minseok." Yixing knew no nectar from moondrops would let him sleep & he hated lying to Baekhyun but he had no choice.

And Baekhyun knew he had lied because a second later he side eyed him saying, "Liar. I know you wouldn't have it you stubborn idiot. You're just saying that to ward me away." Baekhyun then turned to Yixing. "Yixinggie I'm worried about you. How long has it been since you slept properly? Do you even eat anything else other than the dewberries Sehun brings for you? No, you don't!" Baekhyun exhaled loudly & turned away.

Yixing knew he was worrying everyone by behaving the way he was. Everyone, but Baekhyun more so. Baekhyun was a lovely being, always fluttering around Yixing, bringing him trinkets & flowers & mooncakes whenever he could. Yixing had forgotten count of the nights Baekhyun had spent with him, just lying down next to Yixing & singing symphonies only the moon knew, so that Yixing would be able to sleep listening to the calming lullabies. But Yixing could never. He had always stayed alert, staring at the contours of Baekhyun's cherub face brightened by the pale moonlight until either Baekhyun fell victim to the magic of sleep or until the sun peeked over the horizon. Yixing had many times contemplated caressing those fruitful cheeks or combing through the silver tresses of Baekhyun's hair. He never did though.

Yixing knew how Baekhyun felt about him, he had seen the fondness lurking in the depths of Baekhyun's glassy, grey irises. And Yixing wished to reciprocate that fondness, he _longed_ to give him back the love.

But he couldn't. Not when Kyungsoo...

"Have you seen the new harvest fae that arrived in the forest a few days ago?" Yixing turned sharply towards Baekhyun when he heard that. "The arrogant spirit roams around talking with everyone as if it's his homeland. I heard he even went to the nymphs' Orb. I hope Minseok kicks him out on his ass." Baekhyun cackled.

"That's not very nice Baekhyunnie." Yixing knew that this would happen someday. That some other harvest fae would come & try to fix up Namanana. But Yixing also knew that no other fae could do it like Kyungsoo. So he decided not to meddle in this new fae's business. If he succeeded, well & good. If not, well... he won't be as heartbroken as Yixing was.

Suddenly, they heard a melody rippling through the throes of the softly blowing wind. Baekhyun stood up. "Someone's singing?" It was the assonance of a harvest fae. Yixing hadn't heard it since the disappearance of Kyungsoo.

"Its coming from the Idyll. Don't tell me that brat found the Tree of Life! How dare he?" Baekhyun was fuming. "Let's go Yixing. Let's see what that fae is up to." "Huh? Hey-hey!! Wait!" And with that Baekhyun dragged Yixing to the Idyll.

When they both arrived in Idyll, hand in hand, Chanyeol turned around & exclaimed, "Ah! Even Yixing came."

"What in the blood moon is happening here? Why is the newbie singing the song of autumn all of a sudden? Did he even do the moon waning ritual?" Baekhyun looked ready to explode at this point.

Sehun turned towards them disinterestedly, "Don't know about that but he seems to be knowing what he's doing."

Baekhyun pressed the bridge of his nose. "Who brought him to the Idyll anyways?"

"Junmyeon did." Minseok said while looking all but pleased but Yixing could see the tiny flicker of apprehension on his face.

Baekhyun exhaled a long suffering sigh, "Sweet, gullible Junmyeon. Does he not know that this isn't going to work?"

"It's not just Junmyeon at this point, Baekhyun." It was Jongin's pained voice. "And it's not even naivety. We're all searching for glimpses of hope. You can't blame us for seeing that hope in Jongdae."

After hearing the new fae's name, Yixing turned towards the Tree of Life, under which he saw Junmyeon moving his nimble fingers across the soft pedal accompanying the euphonic sound of the singer. The singer, the fae, _Jongdae_ , looked absolutely astounding, sitting there under the dying boughs, with wee little imps weaving mayflowers through his hair. His eyes were closed in concentration & even through the distance Yixing could see the shadows casted by flaky eyelashes upon his high cheekbones.

The music stopped abruptly. Jongdae had opened his eyes & was now looking morosely at a teary-eyed Junmyeon who was staring fixedly at his lap. Yixing looked around & saw that all the sprites had gone mum, the chatter which he had heard upon arriving in Idyll had died down now.

They had failed. Jongdae had failed.

Minseok sighed in his place and strode towards the Tree. He grabbed Junmyeon by the forearm and said, "I hope you had your dose of astonishment today Junmyeon. Let's go back to the Orb now." And then they were gone.

At Yixing's side, Chanyeol pouted, "I think we should go back to the Courtyard too Sehunnie, Jonginnie." Yixing didn't miss the way Jongin's frown deepened or the way Sehun was holding back his tears.

Gradually, every single fae left Idyll & went back to their homes. Baekhyun whispered, "We should head back to the Caves too, Yixing." And Yixing was about to turn around and ask about why Baekhyun's tone of voice was so cold, when his gaze locked with Jongdae's coral one... and something happened.

Was it something like a snowball effect? Not really.

Did sparks fly? No.

But Yixing's heart did flutter with a trickle of hope & now he could understand what Jongin had meant earlier. Jongdae had the gaze of someone who would gather belief from others, a belief which they thought didn't exist.

Before Yixing could mull over this train of thought, he was being dragged by Baekhyun again. He decided he could think about it later when he would be lying awake in his bed.

❀

Jongdae felt bad.

Jongdae felt bad as soon as he opened his eyes and saw Junmyeon crying over the piano. He felt bad because he remembered how Junmyeon had warned him not to feel disheartened when the autumn song wouldn't work. And now it was Junmyeon himself who was saddened. Jongdae felt bad because he had given him that hope & now Jongdae couldn't fulfill it. He realised now that he was too overconfident.

When Minseok came up to take Junmyeon back to their tree house, Jongdae totally expected him to glare at him. But he was stunned when he just dispersed himself & Junmyeon into water droplets.

Jongdae then looked around to see most of the spirits dismayed. He looked further & saw the solar trio standing near the trellises. From where he sat, he could see that Chanyeol was pouring. The bright luminescence of his eyes dimming down. Next to him, both Sehun & Jongin were also as forlorn. The three of them turned around to leave...

And that's when Jongdae saw him.

The most beautiful fae, the most _handsome_ fae he had ever encountered in his short life.

Jongdae could glaringly see it all, the delicate jawline of the fae, the way those dull, emotionless umber eyes were looking around the divine garden at the frantic spirits. The fae's hair looked like the golden fleece with its soft honey colour, with tresses of greens woven into it like wisteria vines that had yet to bloom. The fae was absolutely exquisite.

As he was gazing admirably at the unnamed fae, Jongdae felt his heart quiver with a _forbidden_ feeling. His eyes widened. He stood up, to go near the fae, but stopped as soon as he looked at the other fae who was standing near the former one, holding his hand.

This one had a crown of pearly, white strands of hair and as Jongdae looked at him, he realised the silver-haired fae was glaring daggers at him.

Jongdae had no idea why some of the older faes of Namanana held such abhorrence towards him & he didn't even want ponder on it, but he wanted them to trust him. And that wouldn't happen if he didn't communicate with them. And so he went ahead to do so but halted when his gaze met the beautiful fae's.

Jongdae felt it again, the forbidden feeling.

And Jongdae knew that the other fae felt something too.

But then, the two faes disappeared in front of his eyes before Jongdae could even move his fingers.

Jongdae inhaled loudly, he was the only one standing in the so called Idyll now. He decided to forget this particular encounter for the time being. He had more pressing issues to deal with first.

He had to meet the healer fae of Namanana, Yixing.

He didn't know where the fae lived but he remembered Junmyeon mentioning something about caves. He could go there and look for Yixing.

Yes, he would do it the next day.

❀

It was nightfall.

Yixing was venturing out near the outskirts of the Caves. Baekhyun had been adamant on taking him to the Selenese Valley to let him have a good shut eye but Yixing could be stubborn when he wanted.

The mourning moon was up in the starlit, ebony sky. Yixing pursed his lips, even the moon was mocking him now.

He sauntered further, towards where he knew the _vargasiam_ was, a cactus plant which Kyungsoo had left when he was gone, as a memorabilia. Yixing had visited the plant as much as he could when Baekhyun was not around, even though it hurt him to look at something which reminded him of Kyungsoo. But seeing the thorned plant gave him a sense of comfort his other friends couldn't.

As he was about to reach the stick fence of vargasiam, he saw that the harvest fae, Jongdae was there too. Moving towards the cactus, almost touching it with his hand, trying to make the plant bloom Yixing assumed.

"Stop!" Yixing screamed and Jongdae turned around abruptly but it was too late. His fingers had been scraped by the sharp needles of the cactus, the needles now coated with smears of blood. Yixing watched in horror as within a span of seconds, several multi petaled, snow white flowers started to bloom on the plant.

In a fit of panic, Yixing ran over to the cactus and started plucking the flowers cruelly. As soon as the flowers hit the sandy ground, they withered. He didn't care that his palms & fingers were getting punctured by the thorns, he just wanted the flowers gone. It was so against his nature as a healer fae, but he didn't want to see this cactus flowering. Not when Namanana was almost fading away. He couldn't bear it.

A few moments later, when Yixing was done picking out the pristine white flowers, now coloured with his blood, he looked down at his hands to see bruises & cuts which were healing on their own because of his powers. He looked up & saw Jongdae staring at him. To say he was shocked by what Yixing did was an understatement.

Yixing looked down at Jongdae's hand which was still bleeding. He moved forward & took the hand in his own to heal it. It was because of him that Jongdae had gotten hurt & even though a small cut, Yixing had a responsibility to heal it.

❀

Jongdae had found the Cereus Caves by nightfall. But there wasn't any healer fae around there. Jongdae was about to turn back and go to his makeshift cabin in the Twilight Courtyard, when he saw it.

In the far distance, he could see a large plant of some kind growing in the wilted lands. Jongdae walked over until he could see the clear outline of a cactus. It was a vargasiam. It was common knowledge to harvest faes that vargasiam was a sign of remembrance. Maybe the previous harvest fae, Kyungsoo had left it here.

Jongdae crossed the rickety fence surrounding it & was about to channel his powers to let it bloom, when he heard a loud, booming "Stop!" Jongdae turned suddenly, wincing as his fingers were slashed by the thorns on the cactus, to see the beautiful fae from before.

The fae looked even more ethereal in the doughy moonglow, as he stood there with an expression of horror on his face, as if he had seen Jongdae killing one of his precious sprites. And suddenly he was running towards Jongdae.

Jongdae couldn't take his eyes off of the fae as he was removing the flowers of the cactus, flowers which had bloomed when Jongdae's blood had grazed them. Jongdae saw the brutality displayed upon the innocent cactus, but even then the fae looked positively spellbinding.

A while later, the fae stopped when he had plucked out all the flowers. And Jongdae saw how his dainty hands had been injured. He was about to go & try to mend the damage, when he saw them glowing all of a sudden. And as the glow dissipated, the cuts were all healed. It dawned upon Jongdae then, that this enchanting fae was none other than Namanana's healer fae. This was _Yixing_.

Jongdae didn't know what happened but in the next few seconds his mildly injured hand was being held in Yixing's own & Jongdae could feel a warm, blissful feeling envelope him whole as Yixing tried to heal the cut on his fingers using his powers.

The tepid feeling inside of him kept growing as Yixing continued to heal him, and Jongdae almost missed it when Yixing suddenly started speaking. "Don't dare to do things which you're not supposed to do." Then Yixing looked him straight up in the eyes, "And also the things which you _can't_. The weather is going to turn cold soon and your songs won't be effective in helping bringing back Namanana's flora. So I'll ask you to stop giving false hopes to my other fae friends. We only have time to live until the next spring, so let us bask in our last moments peacefully."

Jongdae wanted to say something, wanted to tell Yixing that he was going to make it all right, wanted to _reassure_ him. But he couldn't. His throat failed to function, as though someone had rubbed it with sandpaper. He couldn't find his voice and merely watched on as Yixing disappeared in front of his eyes in a flaxen glow.

Something hurt inside of Jongdae, even though the healer had just healed him & it made him wonder if limerence was making its home in his heart.

❀

Yixing was sat in the farthest corner of the Idyll. The weather was colder now, the crisp air turning Yixing's every exhaled breath into wispy white clouds.

It was cold. But it wasn't cold enough to snow, even though they were far enough into the winter season, almost at the end of it, that Jongdae was already singing the winter songs now, trying his best every day to make miracles happen.

Yixing remembered the times when the entirety of Namanana would be covered in a sheet of pure white snow. And the times when Minseok would put on a show for the faes in the Idyll by creating snow & ice sculptures that were so impressive and left everyone gaping after them. He missed the times when all of them would gather around the bonfire in the main area and would share stories about nothing in particular.

Now, all that was a mere fragment of memory, and Yixing wasn't so positive that they would be able to experience it once again.

He looked at the base of Tree of Life. Jongdae was once again making attempts to raise Namanana from the dead. He hadn't heeded Yixing's advice. This time Chanyeol was accompanying him on the soft pedal, as he had done so for the entire winter season. Jongin and Sehun were sat around them on the grounds with other small, eager spirits. They were also on the verge of losing hope now but they didn't have the heart to stop Chanyeol from helping Jongdae. Unlike Minseok.

Minseok had locked up Junmyeon in the Orb, after so many failed struggles & bouts of crying on the piano. Junmyeon tried escaping so many times but stopped when Jongdae himself told him to stop coming. Said something along the lines of how he couldn't bear to see Junmyeon's tears, when he himself was the one causing them.

Yixing sat alone today. Usually Baekhyun was with him but now he was away on a trip in Goddess Luna's gardens. To collect flowers or trinkets, Yixing would find out later. Yixing thought it was better since he won't be listening to complaints & whines from Baekhyun.

He didn't understand why but Baekhyun didn't like Jongdae. At all. Almost all the faes had accepted Jongdae as a part of the Land now and they were all friendly with him, except Minseok & Yixing himself because the two of them were mostly indifferent.

But Baekhyun utterly despised it when Jongdae was in the vicinity. He would glare at him nonstop & would only stop when Yixing asked him to. And it was because of Baekhyun that the seasonal singing ceremony wasn't working. Because Baekhyun refused to perform the moon waning ritual. Yixing knew it was important but he also knew not to force Baekhyun. He would do it only when he knew it would be successful. And Baekhyun had no faith in Jongdae to think that he would succeed.

The song ended with a crescendo and Yixing looked up from his thoughts. Winter songs didn't end in crescendo. No, it was Chanyeol who had stopped playing in between. From where Yixing was, he could see Chanyeol balling his fists, almost in anger.

"I think we should stop doing this Jongdae." Chanyeol's deep voice boomed across the Idyll. "It's obviously no use playing songs daily because Baekhyun wouldn't do the moon waning ritual to help us. And there's no possible way that you are our destined harvest fae. You have failed so many times even I'm losing hope now."

"Chanyeol is right!" Sehun stood up & the tiny spirits on his lap tumbled down to the ground. "You should stop playing around Jongdae. Yeah we were pretty excited when you first came but now it's been so many moons, we are tired. If you can't do it then tell us so. No need to make us anticipate for something which is not coming." And with that he left towards the Courtyard, Chanyeol following him shortly.

Under the Tree, now only Jongdae & Jongin were left. Jongin tried saying something but stopped himself when Jongdae turned around to face the dying tree. Jongin then gazed at Yixing and nodded to himself. Confusion bloomed in Yixing as he saw Jongin furiously whispering something to Jongdae. Because of the distance Yixing couldn't hear it but was startled when Jongin suddenly appeared in front of him at breakneck speed & said, "Stop trying to come off as clueless already." And then disappeared again.

Yixing was more confused now. He looked towards Jongdae and saw his hopeful gaze. It sparked something inside him but Yixing didn't want to mull over it so he disappeared to the Caves.

❀

Jongdae was now always in the Idyll. Singing alone. Ever since Chanyeol had lashed out on him he had stopped asking any of the faes to come help him.

The weather was turning warm now. If Namanana had birds, they would've been chirping the spring songs by now. There would have been plants & flowers blooming along too making the surroundings aureate. Jongdae wondered if Junmyeon would have been busy making spring showers if he could.

Jongdae had been considering about leaving the place now. He couldn't do what he had come to do. He remembered the promise he had made to the dying imp in his arms back then and now he was cursing himself that he wasn't able to keep that promise.

But it was also conflicting him to leave all these faes out to die here, because he knew they'd die soon. He had come to see them all as his friends. They had treated him, a stranger, with such goodwill & kindness. He was indebted to them, enough to help them move on, pass on.

Jongdae was sitting under the almost dead Tree of Life, playing with a stray moonshine trinket. It must've belonged to Baekhyun, the lunar fae who hated him with a passion. Jongdae couldn't really blame it though. He was smart enough to look through Jongdae's misgivings.

"Jongdae." He turned his sight above to see Minseok standing there, the butterfly with snowflake wings in his palm, the one which Jongdae had seen when he had first visited the Orb. Minseok extended the hand with the butterfly towards him. "It's spring now. We are going to go away soon. I know I haven't been grateful enough to you for the past moons but I wanted to thank you nonetheless. Thank you for _trying_ your best for us." If Minseok's words had a bitter bite to them Jongdae didn't taste it. He was too touched to notice it.

All of a sudden, the solar trio was there too. Their hands full with toadflaxes of different colours. It was Sehun who came and hugged Jongdae first & soon Chanyeol glomped them both. Jongdae couldn't really make out what they were mumbling in between their sobs but an amused Jongin explained, "They are saying sorry for being mean to you Jongdae. They are big cry babies so they can't really form words right now." This was followed by Sehun's indignant shout of "I'm not a cry baby!"

Jongdae didn't know what to do so he just sat there, trying to hold back his tears. He was able to sense that the small faes were once again weaving wildflowers in his hair strands, butterburs this time. All of Namanana's faes, the Namanana family was there in the Idyll now. He felt so helpless there, realising how he had failed all these lovely beings.

A ball of mist happened to fall down on Jongdae's face then, mixing with his tears. He looked up to see Junmyeon smiling at him through tears. "It's called the laughing mist. I don't feel nice seeing you cry Jongdae." He pouted.

Jongdae smiled inspite of himself. Why was this moment turning so sardonic?

Junmyeon had kneeled beside him & held his hand, "Would you sing for us for one last time? A spring song?" And Jongdae obviously couldn't say no. Not now.

He got up as Chanyeol & Sehun stopped embracing him. He went up to his sit & waited for either Chanyeol or Junmyeon to accompany him. He smiled sadly knowing the pianist he wanted, wouldn't accompany him anyways. Junmyeon & Chanyeol made a silent agreement of some sorts & the former stepped forward to sit on the soft pedal. But before he could, a hand stopped him on the way.

Jongdae was, so to say, shocked seeing Yixing standing there. "How about I play it this time around?" And Junmyeon just smiled his wide grin & stepped back, to go back to the other faes.

Yixing sat down & Jongdae couldn't help himself from asking, "Why would you?" When Yixing turned to look at him, he continued. "Why would you play the piano when I never asked you to?"

Yixing just stared at him for a while before smiling a small, tentative _smile_. "Someone asked me to stop pretending to be clueless about all this." He looked behind him & Jongdae followed his gaze and saw Jongin doing a mock salute to them. His eyes widened and he remembered the conversation he had with Jongin. "I thought about it for a while. Made me realise that maybe I should give you a chance. I'm sorry for not asking you to sing with me before." Yixing sounded so sincere Jongdae wanted to break down & cry.

But he had a song to sing. He could cry later, when he'd be all alone. Without all of them.

As Jongdae inhaled, to start singing, Yixing had a sudden epiphany. "Wait! Before we begin... Baekhyunnie!" He turned around again.

Baekhyun materialised out of thin air near Minseok. He glared at Jongdae as soon as they locked eyes. Then he looked at Yixing and his gaze turned softer than ever. Jongdae felt a pang of jealousy.

Baekhyun sighed exaggeratedly then. "I'm only doing this because Yixing asked me to. And I love him a lot to turn his request down." He said, as he channelled his powers to make a moon waning process.

The moon was pink. Pink like the cherry blossom petals. Pink like the fairy glitter smearing the evening sky. Pink like the colour Yixing's cheeks would turn to when he could smile, Jongdae was sure. Pink like the feeling which had enclosed Jongdae's heart. Pink like _love_.

Baekhyun was glowing while the moon kept on changing shapes for a few minutes, growing bigger and then smaller and then again bigger and then again smaller. Soon it stopped at the full phase & floated up from Baekhyun's hands. Yixing's fingers found temporary home on the piano & music started chiming.

It was time. Time to sing the spring's ballad, _Floria_.

Everyone was silent as the melody kept going. Jongdae's arial tones & Yixing's crooning performance had them all captivated enough that they failed to notice the small flower buds, trying to grow on the Tree of Life. Until Baekhyun gasped & pointed to it. "Look at the Tree!"

Jongdae was surprised when Yixing stopped playing but when he looked at him he was greeted with such a beautiful sight. Yixing was looking up at the Tree, a wide, _real_ smile on his now glowing face. He giggled to himself, as if the Tree & him had shared some sort of secret only they were privy to and started playing the pedal again. Jongdae was momentarily panicking but got himself together and started singing again.

After a while, water started seeping out of the cloudless sky and Jongdae heard a gasp which sounded more like a squeak. Junmyeon was crying again, but this time they were tears of happiness mixed with raindrops of the spring shower. Chanyeol glomped both Junmyeon and Minseok in a fit of excitement and Jongdae was able to hear Minseok's melodic laughter. Sehun was wiping at his tears not so discreetly, as Jongin hugged him alongside making large circumhorizontal arcs up in the sky. Jongdae knew the solar faes would be able to make flowers & fruits bloom once again now and he was so happy for them.

As Floria came to its end, Jongdae saw that everyone was drenched in the drizzle. He looked around and saw _Namanana_ , the _rainforest where dreams don't fall_. He looked at all the faes laughing and being genuinely _happy_. _Alive_. They were all alive. And Jongdae would make sure they would stay so. Forever.

Baekhyun came up to him suddenly, offering him a bunch of moonflowers. "If you _dare_ hurt Yixing I will make sure you won't be able to _look_ at any other fae as much as fall for them, I promise." Jongdae blanched. "And if you dare to _leave_ Namanana, I'll personally hunt you down and present your heart to Yixing on a silver platter." "Baekhyunnie." came the chiding voice of Yixing. "Ok ok, I'm going now. I have to ask Junmyeon to try making moon showers with me." He looked at Jongdae seriously, "Thank you." Jongdae smiled at him, shock clear on his face. Baekhyun smirked & retreated back to the others, leaving Jongdae & Yixing alone under the Tree.

Jongdae looked at Yixing and saw the pure emotions reflected in those honey eyes which he had come to love so much in the past few moons. Yixing then smiled, his eyes crinkling prettily and Jongdae knew that he had enough time to turn the limerence in his heart into love. Jongdae smiled to himself while looking up at the colourless sky.

Maybe now was the time to say _all's well, that ends well_?

❀

Somewhere near the Cereus Caves, near the vargasiam, a figure stood looking at the cactus' thorns. Their soft hair blowing in the spring wind looked like silk curtains of northwinds. The chestnut coloured freckles on their nose were accentuated as they smiled, going near the cactus and touching it with glowing hands.

Kyungsoo looked back at the Namanana he was leaving behind again. This time it looked more blessed than before. And he was glad. So glad.

He turned back to embark on a new journey. He knew had changed Namanana for better, as he saw the crimson coloured flowers blooming on the prickly plant. He had changed Yixing's heart too, again for the better.

He had more work to do now. More hearts to change.

And he went about to his next destination, humming a soft summer tune.

❀

_~finite_

  
••••••••••••••

  
_metanoia_  
_(n.) the journey of changing one's mind, heart, self, or way of life_

**Author's Note:**

> If you managed to read until this far, thank you so much💕


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